Chain link fences have been widely used for many years to satisfy fencing requirements. While they provide acceptable strength and durability over many years, they do not provide privacy or serve as a windbreak due to their appertured construction. Various inserts, typically referred to as "slats", have been suggested and manufactured for increasing the privacy of a chain link fence, as well as serving as a windbreak. Many early arrangements were designed to be directly connected to the wire of the fence and required clamping or bending of a metal slat onto a link of the fence.
One inventor of the present invention overcame a problem with slats migrating upwardly and downwardly due to wind or other environmental forces, which created an unfinished uneven appearance, by providing a slat retaining means which extended through a slot in the slats and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,556 to Meglino which issued on Apr. 23, 1985.
Those skilled in the art appreciate that one of the major costs incurred in the manufacture of privacy inserts is the cost of the raw materials. It would therefore be desirable to provide a readily fabricated fence insert which is less expensive than previous designs without lowering the aesthetic standards of the insert.
It is also desirable to provide an aesthetically pleasing fence insert which is readily installed into an existing chain link fence, and which has sufficient structural integrity to withstand adverse weather conditions typically encountered by a chain link fence.